Date Day at the Zoo

Today was a big day for the husband and I – it was our first official date day as husband and wife! It only took two and a half months, but we did it 🙂 Since we both love animals so much (and this destination had been on our “gotta go to” list since before we were even engaged – September of last year!), we decided to go to animal central: the zoo! And where is one of the biggest and best places to go to a zoo in the US? The Bronx Zoo, of course 🙂

We decided to make a full day of it and brought a little snack and something to drink, and prepared ourselves for some major walking. Since I have the RSD in my left foot, I took my major pain medication beforehand and made sure I had appropriate shoes. But I still wanted to look cute, so I made sure to build my outfit to be vintage style high and pain inducing low. What did I wear, you ask? Well, since you asked…

Here’s a picture of my husband and me, a close up of my makeup, hair, and dress print:

I put my hair back into a snood in a nice tan colour that was a minor colour represented in my dress, which is a great 1950s atomic frock I managed to nab up on eBay shortly after I returned from Viva. I accessorized with matching bakelite bracelets in various colours from the dress and butterscotch tan bakelite earrings as well (the ones I purchased at Viva). I also wore a gold feather brooch that had belonged to my grandmother. I wore a tan cardigan with vintage tan penny loafers while I carried a vintage white structured purse with a lucite handle. I certainly got lots of looks but I loved it! I forgot just how confident and enthusiastic I feel wearing a pulled together and more vintage look than something that is more modern or vintage “looking”. I had kind of lost touch over the last few months due to stress as well as all of the wedding stuff going on. Viva brought my passion right back to the surface! 🙂

We arrived at the zoo at 11:30 AM and we found parking relatively quickly, which was rather surprising considering it is such a huge tourist attraction and it is in the city (well, the Bronx) as well.

So what kind of animals did we see? We saw way too many to go into huge detail about any particular one!

We saw camels first thing…

…and then Red Pandas…

…and even antique water fountains from around 1900!

A sleepy polar bear taking a nap in the most awkward position ever…

…and the tush of a snow leopard.

We saw a snake with a really badass pattern on it. We called it the “emo boa” because it looks like it has razor blades running up and down it’s back LOL.

Check out the neck on this dude!

See ya later, alligator!

Itty bitty baby horsies…

Tony the (tired) tiger…

Peacocks are absolutely gorgeous!

Oh deer…

Elephants are really graceful and sweet animals to me 🙂

Rhino! Just seeing him from this angle reminded me of that scene from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. If you’ve seen it, you know exactly what I am referring to 😛

Adorable zebras!

I love giraffes! I have no idea where it came from, but I just couldn’t wait to see this guy 🙂

African Wild Dogs – they were playing around and rough housing while we were watching. It was sweet!

Oh just a baboon…

…and his big blue bubble butt!

Mackayla Monkey is not impressed.

This mommy gorilla was breast feeding against the viewing glass. You can see the baby’s head if you look. At one point Alex tried to peek around to see the baby after I pointed him/her out to him, and when he did the mom turned around and looked him point blank in the eye (they were literally only separated by about an inch of plastic) as if to say, “What the hell are you doing?” It was pretty cool LOL.

FLAMINGOES! I ❤ these cuties 🙂

‘MURICA. We took numerous pictures of this dude, and each and every one of them made him look epic.

See what I mean?!

Even sea lions need mid afternoon naps…

When we got to where the sea lions were, it had a lot of great old style buildings and wonderful landscaping. What else was a vintage girl to do other than take a few shots? 😉

After a full six hours making our way through the zoo, we were tired, sore, hungry, and ready to make our way home. But we had a great time and had a ton of fun. We left there with huge smiles on our faces for sure!

Outfit:
Dress: eBay
Sweater: ModCloth
Bakelite bangles: eBay
Bakelite earrings: vendor at Viva Las Vegas
Snood: eBay
Penny loafers: eBay
Purse: Guess where? eBay 😛

Outfit of the Day: 01 March

Today was yet another school day, but I just had a lab. Nonetheless, I was in a good mood because I had gotten a 91 on a recent exam this week, so I wanted to look good to match 🙂

This dress is from Pinup Girl Clothing, and is my first acquisition from the clothing line. I say acquisition because I also bought this dress from the “Oh La La!” Vintage Swap & Sell Facebook group. It is a fabulous group to find all sorts of great vintage and pinup/rockabilly items being sold from individuals usually for a great price. This dress usually retails for over $125, but I got it from a great gal in the group for only $65! And yes, it is authentic 😉 The PUG brand is Deadly Dames.

This dress has a great v neck cut that is low and super sexy. It also emphasizes your bust while offering more support and making your waist look tiny. The skirt is full, and you could even wear a crinoline very easily with this dress. I didn’t because I felt like I would look too over the top, and I like to just look regularly over the top heheh.

This dress fits me like a glove, and is very comfortable. The slight bit if spandex helps to fit your curves perfectly 🙂 But my favorite part if the dress? The pattern!

It has whips and Bettie Page looking gals on it, as well as corsets, bullet bras, and even a girl with a gag in her mouth! I thought it was too awesome – it just screams bad girl and femme fatale sexpot. Definitely a unique print and one you won’t find anywhere else!

As you can see I also wore my red and black wig again. I felt like it matched the dress perfectly, and also offered another ‘sexy’ factour with the dress. I was certainly the dame of my class today! 😉

Tie Me Up dress: Pin Up Girl Clothing
Wig: eBay
Shoes: Amerimark

Outfit of the Day: 28 February

Today I had a long day at school – I spent from 3 P.M. to 10 P.M. in class, with maybe about 40 minutes of a break after my first class, and I have three in total. Since today was my long day, I figured I would glam it up a bit. And when I mean glam, I mean vintage glam!

I recently bought a dress from a friend of mine from Australia in the awesome Facebook group “Oh La La!” Vintage Swap & Sell. Kat was selling the gorgeous dress you see above, which is semi-sheer and from the 1940s. She was selling it for only $35 – how could I resist?! It’s part of the reason I sell on eBay – so I can spend some money on fun things like that without diving into my own shallow wallet 😉

This dress fits me perfectly. And today was one of the first days in a while since I started my diet that I actually felt thinner and felt good! So I was really feeling fun, flirty, feminine, and confident today. I think I have learned what I need to do and not do when it comes to what I eat and do for exercise – I’m not in my early 20’s anymore so I can’t just limit what I eat and that’s it! It sucks but it also helps me to be healthier.

This was my hair and makeup for today. I apologize for the crappy pictures, but this was taken at 11 at night and I was tired! LOL. It now takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to do my victory rolls now, as opposed to the hour or so it took when I first started. So yes ladies, it is true about practice making perfect! 🙂

One last thing I want to leave you with us a shot of the pattern of my dress:

Isn’t that so cute and feminine? And I love the detailing of the scalloped shoulders 🙂 This is my first time wearing this dress since it now has finally gotten to a decent temperature to wear this dress today and really let it shine. I think this dress will be in heavy rotation from now on!

Outfit of the Day: 08 February

So yesterday I had an early day – I had a 9:30 appointment for my orthopaedic surgeon. We had quite the snow storm/blizzard here from yesterday afternoon into today, and the rain and sleet BS had already started even by the morning. So I was just super excited to go out in all of that crap. I also had a lab class from 3 to 6, but the forecast said the real crap would flow between that exact time span, so there was no way in hell I was going.

So what was a girl to do? Hit the streets still looking vintage fabulous, of course! I recently bought an absolutely stunning 1940s WWII suit that – get this – was made in Great Britain during the war. To me that just upped the fabulousness factour to an 11!

And since it was still colder outside than Dick Cheney’s heart, I decided to wear some black thermal leggings/stockings to aid in keeping me toasty. I’m still not sure if they looked alright with the suit, but I’m sure all of you can help me decide 🙂

Isn’t the suit just to die for?! And I’m sure you haven’t noticed all of the little details such as the interweaved colours, pocket bling, and cuff fold details. But here are some extra pictures so you can further inspect 😉

And here is a more scrutinizing picture of the pocket bling/intricacies and ornate yet glamourous weaves of colour detail for all y’all to oogle over:

And guess how much this beauty cost me? Only $45! I saw it on eBay about a month ago from the seller VogueVintageVixen and the start bid was at $40 with the Buy It Now at $45. Now I am not that stupid to just disregard the BIN option and just fight with people until the bitter end and watch the price just climb to nearly $150 or $200 easily. This is a perfect example of when having saved searches is the most genius idea – Diane had just listed this beauty not even a half an hour prior to my discovering it. Imagine if I hadn’t? I would have missed out on a huge opportunity to own one of the items from my Christmas Vintage Wish List – and it was number two on my list, so it was pretty important for me 🙂

In addition to the amazing suit, I had busted out my new brown loafers, which is one of the most comfortable pairs of shoes I own now. I know the brown wasn’t an exact match, but I felt it offered a decent contrast to the black leggings and the colour was represented in a small amount within the suit. One of my own personal “fashion rules” is to wear accessories that go with the minor/accent colours, such as with my loafers here and the yellow dahlia and blue rose earrings I had on, as well as my bakelite bangles. I feel following this rule really makes an outfit comes together in a much more natural, subdued, and amazing way.

As some of you may have noticed if you have been following my blog for a bit now, is that I usually am not a wearer of hats. At first I figured, “I would rather have more dresses, tops, skirts…” meaning more actual clothing in and of itself, rather than hats. Then I figured, “Meh, I don’t really look so hot in hats.” I’ve seen hundreds of pictures of my maternal grandmother from around this era of dressing, and she really knocked wearing hats way out of the ballpark. Then I decided, “Hats are really a necessary staple for most vintage wardrobes”, and I started hunting. I’ve gotten just four hats in the past month alone, all for first cheap on eBay. eBay has really become my main source for vintage clothing, because if you save searches and play your cards right, you can save some major money on these things! Most of the vintage items I have bought on eBay have been at least half or even a fifth of what it “should”/”would” be on Etsy. Just remember – perseverance and saved searches! To figure out my bidding strategy that has worked so well for me (for the most part! LOL) you can click here to read my previous post.

I did, however, have one ’40s hat. I bought it back in December 2011, soon after I had my shoulder surgery. It screamed at me constantly to buy it, and plus it was only $10 due to the netting being all torn n’ worn. I’m not a big fan of having a net over my face anyway, so when I received it, it was promptly removed. But have I worn it since I bought it over a year ago? Nope. Not even once. I was even thinking about selling it. But as soon as I saw that suit, the whole status of the hat changed as well. It now has a life! And it was given many compliments during its outing today. I am sure all of my other hats (I keep wanting to say “covers” instead of “hats” – old military habits die hard LOL) are quite jealous. I will get to the rest of you my lovelies, no worries, as I now have a newfound love of hats thanks to this spectacular little brown number that took me 14 months to wear:

Isn’t it beautiful? I have no idea why I never wore it before other than my firm belief I had nothing to wear with it, which was an invalid idea even before getting this suit – I had a few dresses with some brown in them prior, so I don’t know where my mind was for 14 months in regards to this hat!

The seller of this suit also had several other items she needed/wanted to unload, as she really isn’t going to sell anymore because she just said being a seller, especially on eBay, is just too much BS anymore (to which I agreed, as I’ve had my own issues). Then she went on to say she would send me a few other vintage goodies for me, since we seemed to have the same measurements. She sent me a 60’s black sheath dress with incredible beading and jeweled detail at the neckline, a 50’s nude lace skirt and top set, again with great neckline detail also. And last but not least, she sent me a tea length black 50’s fully lined coat with mink fur at the collar and around the a cuffs, made in the USA by the union(s). Isn’t all of that amazing?! I must take pictures for all of you to see, because it is just breathtaking, all of what she sent me. I thought about selling the 60’s dress and 50’s shirt/skirt set, but I just can’t because they have sentimental value now – it reestablished my faith in humanity and the kindness of strangers in a way; it made me smile to know that there are still some decent people out there that you are fortunate to come in contact with once in a while 🙂

So despite this heinous weather we are having now, I still made an effort. Like I said in my first outfit post – I try to look the best I can to look presentable and dress the way that I always feel best in – true vintage or rockabilly style 🙂

DON’T FORGET! The VALENTINES DAY GIVEAWAY is still available to enter until the 12th! Click HERE to enter for your chance to win!

Outfit of the Day: 06 February

So yesterday I had my anatomy & physiology lecture class. I actually enjoy all of the three (yes, you read that right – the number three) hours of it because the human body fascinates me. I love talking about it. I love learning more about it. It’s one of the things that drives my passion for medicine (that and orthopaedics 🙂 )

So, in my typical fashion, I had to glam it up! I don’t care that it was my only class that day, or that it is “only” an outing of three hours – I want to look good and feel good. If I showed up wearing sweats (which would be NEVER), I’m sure I wouldn’t be walking around campus with that extra swag and confidence. I really believe dressing “up” helps me with school. It’s like they say about those who work from home – still get dressed in work/professional attire, and you will psychologically change into “work mode”. It works. Trust me.

So, I primped – full makeup, and I got to wear some of my many new additions I have acquired over the past month or so. I was so excited about this outfit that I took my coat off in class, although I was a tad cold the whole time. But damn, I had it goin’ on (at least I think so heheh):

I really do apologize for the completely horrid picture. I have a self timer picture app on my phone, and this was a spur of the moment thing right when I got home. This also explains the hair, as it was in a wig cap at this moment, since I had taken off the wig already. My bad. But here’s what the wig looks like!

Again, I apologize for the abhorrent picture. I promise I will get better at this outfit picture taking thing! I have no husband or boyfriend to take snaps for me like most other bloggers – it’s just all me. So please bare with me 🙂

I thought this wig went well with the outfit, and since I spent a lot of time reading today I didn’t have the time to do my hair. What’s an instant fix? Wigs! I have a blonde one too, but that is mostly for events/occurrences where I need to be “normal looking”, such as job interviews and whatnot.

My absolute favourite part of this outfit? The WWII V for Victory pin I fought to the death for on eBay. And the eBay gods worked in my favour 🙂

Less than $20 all together for it. It is my pride and joy. This and my FDR reelection pin, because I am blood related to him…so of course I would be proud of that 🙂

I had taken my red lipstick off by that time of the photo, as I was waiting to nosh on some General Tso’s chicken despite my diet. Hey, I needed more protein – or at least that’s what MyFitnessPal tells me (I’m RockSteadyUSMC on there BTW). I’m working on whittling my body down to fit better into my clothes. Despite my chronic pain, I can at least work on my food intake. Exercise? That will be discussed with my surgeon this Friday.

So what do all y’all think? Cute? Not so cute? Too much for school? Great for school? I firmly believe that there is no such thing as being overdressed 😉

Navy shirt: NY & Company
Red cardigan: Thrifted
Vintage ’40s skirt: eBay
WWII V for Victory brooch: eBay
Wig: eBay

Passion for Fashion with Wildfell Hall

On Election Day I had the honour of working with the fabulous Amy of the Etsy shop Wildfell Hall. If you all don’t know her, I suggest you go check out her shop pronto!

Amy has such a delicious selection of dresses and other items that it is really hard not to just blow your hard earned paycheck on the whole shop! I am an advocate of buying an item or two, especially since she has a baby on the way and she spends a great deal of time on road trips out vintage hunting for items for her customers! And her items are all high quality – I can tell because I modelled a good 5 or 7 of her items!

This is a fabulous ’40s dress that is original new old stock! It has already been purchased, as a few minutes after she posted the picture, it sold! That makes me feel good like I am doing my job as a model LOL 😉

Isn’t this dress amazing? It’s vintage but it has this badass leopard belt and detail on the buttons. It’s also rather warm, so it is fabulous for these colder months of the year to keep you warm without extra bulk. It has a bust of 46″, a waist of 38″, and costs only $82.00. Check it out further here. Oh, and before I forget – LAYAWAY is available now in her shop for the holidays for most items 🙂

Isn’t this dress just stunning? The print, the peplum, the shape – it all just screams forties. It has a nice drape-y crepe type fabric, and the coloring is great for fall and winter (or even spring and summer – it’s very versatile!). I believe it sold already though, sorry! 😦

I love this 1950s dress! The shelf bust is amazing and the print is perfect for fall. It fit me like a glove too! The waist measures 34″-35″, and if you are smaller you can use the matching belt that comes with to cinch it in a bit more with no problem. Investigate this stunner more here.

Those big hands you see there my friends are my hands. And that purse is an amazing 1940s green alligator wristlet-type purse. So cute and such a rich colour! Check it out here.

Another amazeballs purse modelled by the claws of yours truly. This 1950s purse just feels so amazing, like such a soft and smooth suede! Perfect to match with anything, really. And a great size that is not too small and not too big, for just $30.00. Take a gander here.

This coat, oh my my, this coat! If I could buy it right now I would. This 1930s duster coat is just stunning in the amount of detail that stands out yet is also subtle as well. This coat has a nice weight to it and I’m sure whomever buys it will be a very happy gal! Check ‘er out over yonder.

Amy also has another fabulous shop called The Slipperie which contains tons of fabulous unmentionables such as vintage bras, nightgowns, dressing downs, bed jackets, slips, garter belts, and more. This 1930s yellow nightgown has such a great silky feel to its rayon. Quite the way to indulge after a long day! Go examine closer here.

Quite some fabulous items, n’est-ce pas? And she always has more great items that she finds and posts all of the time. Go check for yourself – I’m sure you will find something that will strike your vintage-loving fancy 🙂